UPDATED Community 'saddened' after girl hit by tractor in Clementsvale accident

The Life Flight helicopter landed at the tidal power dam Wednesday evening and waited for ambulance to bring the injured girl from the Annapolis Community Health Centre where she was stabilized. The Life Flight helicopter took her to Halifax for further treatment.

CLEMENTSVALE - Police are now saying a child injured in an accident in Clementsvale Wednesday evening was struck by a tractor, not a combine as they previously reported.

But an area resident close to the situation said the girl was hit by the mower behind the tractor and suffered a severed leg and an injured arm.

RCMP from Annapolis and Digby counties were on the scene of the accident on Clementsvale Road, along with Emergency Health Services and firefighters from Bear River and Smith’s Cove.

At about 6:50 p.m. on July 19, a seven-year-old girl was critically injured when she was struck by a farm tractor, RCMP said today.

The Life Flight helicopter landed at the tidal power dam Wednesday evening and waited for ambulance to bring the injured girl from the Annapolis Community Health Centre where she was stabilized. The Life Flight helicopter took her to Halifax for further treatment.

“The operator of the tractor was mowing a hay field with the tractor and did not see the girl,” police said. “The hay in the field was approximately three feet high.”

The area resident said the girl was visiting and believes her grandmother called 911. The man driving the tractor was not a relative and was extremely distraught. She described him as “devastated” and said she had to keep reassuring him he had not killed the girl.

“The whole community is saddened by it all,” she said.

Police said the girl sustained critical injuries and was taken by ambulance to a local medical clinic and later transported by Life Flight for further medical treatment in Halifax.

The Life Flight helicopter landed at the helipad at the causeway on the tidal power dam in Annapolis Royal. Fire trucks closed off the causeway to traffic while the girl was brought to the location. It took off at about 9:15 p.m.

The injured girl’s condition is unknown at this time.

Clementsvale Road runs from downtown Bear River all the way to Lequille. The accident was between Clementsport Road and Potter Road.